Angie's New Outlook
by CeciliazAgo
Summary: Angie feels like a doormat to the other cheerleaders. But a confidence-boosting site changes Angie's confidence. The real Angie is coming out now. And Angie develops a crush she's not afraid to have.


Mandy and Angie were talking in Mandy's room.

"Mandy, did you get all of the homework I was gonna help you out with?" Angie asked.

"I did it already. Beatrice's room has the answers to everything. Seriously, that girl is weird!" Mandy replied.

Angie laughed. She felt a sigh of relief that she didn't have to go on Google to help Mandy. And Wikipedia's layout was too complicated for Angie to work out.

"Seriously though, how do you get such good grades?" Mandy asked.

"I sit behind Beatrice in Math. I copy her answers. If you ever get assigned near her, never copy her name on the test papers. I did that once and I got failed and my parents were called in!" Angie complained.

"Well, at least your parents are cool, right?" Mandy asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yeah. They said I was probably daydreaming. Mr Hattrick got mad that I was daydreaming in class, but my dad stepped in and said it wasn't a big deal over a little mistake," Angie told Mandy how she got away with it.

"I wish I had parents like yours! If I failed any test, my parents would take away my phone, my makeup, my perfume, my deodorant, and my favourite pyjamas!" Mandy really did hate life at home.

Mrs Peabody came in and said it was time for bed. Angie went back to her room, while Mandy turned her lamp off, and decided to turn on her phone. _Just one more selfie..._she thought.

Angie woke up. She applied some lip gloss and mascara and then powdered her entire face. She used her deodorant, got changed and took a selfie. Even though Angie wore glasses, she still loved mascara. She headed along to the cafeteria for breakfast. She frowned at the "cereal", which looked like it had been in the fridge for 5 years. But it was better than nothing. She sat down with her friends, the cheerleaders.

Lola walked by.

"Are you using too much powder, Angie? I read in ItsGirl that you should only put powder on your T-Zone!" Lola made a cruel comment with a harsh laugh.

"Shouldn't you be busy, taking photos for your Insta?" Angie shot back.

Lola laughed again, then moved to the table with Zoe, Eunice and Beatrice.

"Who reads ItsGirl?" Christy inquired.

"Only the wannabes!" Pinky chorused.

"I used some of their mascara, and my eyelashes were so clumpy!" Mandy protested.

"I mean, seriously, why is my powder any of Lola's business? I have oily skin, I need it on my face. I found an online beauty newsletter with advice for every beauty occasion. Lola has no idea what she's talking about!" Angie hated Lola.

"Those experts in ItsGirl are just novices. The highlighter and contour brands they promote are terrible! There are way better websites written by professionals on makeup and fashion!" Mandy agreed.

For some reason, Angie always felt like a doormat. Mandy always told Angie what to do, and Angie felt like the one at the end of the line, the overlooked one, the used one. She felt terrible. She knew her friends were mean, but Angie wanted to impress Mandy. Mandy was very popular, and Angie was insecure. Earning Mandy's respect could get Angie popular too. At least Christy was Angie's closest friend.

Angie shut her eyes. She was already popular. She didn't need to impress anyone. She didn't need to feel insecure. Angie wondered why she was insecure. Angie had to continue on her own path, she didn't have to follow the crowd. Something made her stop on her path and the only way out was the crowd. That's what had happened.

In her dorm room, Angie grabbed her phone and searched up websites for online confidence newsletters. She found an article on Angie's favourite online newsletter for teenage and young adult girls, dedicated to making girls feel better. This was completely ironic, as this newsletter and all other newsletters gave away the message that you need the best makeup and clothes to be popular, and that life was all about having a boyfriend.

Angie remembered. When she was 12, she watched the film _Jessica Darling's It List_ and decided to make a popularity checklist herself. She looked at her old checklist. _Be a cheerleader, be popular, have a group chat on Messenger with besties, have a boyfriend_. She had checked all of those things off, except the boyfriend part. That was the hardest! Angie thought of herself as an ugly girl, and all the cute guys seemed to have girlfriends anyway. The rest of the cute guys were creepy.

The name _Vance Medici_ ran through her head. He was single. He was cute. He wasn't creepy. Only, he was friends with Lola. And he was poor. Angie's friends would never accept him. Angie slapped herself. She wished her friends didn't control her life.

But she didn't need her friends controlling her love life. Angie thought that Vance was too young, but Vance was a freshman and Angie was a sophomore. They didn't need to worry about age.

But Angie thought that they wouldn't last long. A rich girl dating a poor boy. Pinky said that would never work. Christy said Vance smells like cars. But Mandy pointed out that Johnny smelt worse and Lola never seemed to mind. But then Christy shrugged and said that Lola had bad taste.

Naturally, Angie was always on Mandy's side. She only wanted to impress Mandy. Angie never realised how mean Mandy's choices were, Angie just wanted to fit in. She felt horrible after agreeing with Mandy. But she kept thinking that popularity was important. Angie thought she was always going to be a doormat.

Maybe it was the intimidation of Mandy's age. Angie, Pinky, and Christy were all sophomores, while Mandy was a senior. Pinky and Christy always agreed with Mandy, they felt like doormats too, even though Pinky was second in command for the cheerleaders. They really belonged to the Jocks, but Mandy liked the thought of the cheerleaders being their own clique.

Angie wondered if Mandy really was her friend. Angie supported Mandy through difficult times, but Mandy seemed vain and never really supported anyone. Although online beauty websites had shown that vanity was a blessing, Angie knew better than that. She just didn't know it yet.


End file.
